The significance of technical end electronic equipment in the operation of modern offices is steadily increasing. Such equipment comprises telephone sets, tele-fax sets, dictating appliances as well as computers, visual display units, printers and copiers. The surface area required to support such equipment is steadily increasing. For reasons of space economy and to save costs an increase of the degree to which the surface area which is available is occupied is desired. For this reason, desks are often provided with a so-called second working level, which is constituted by a supporting surface that is spaced above the desktop. Such a second working level may be provided by a desktop mount. A known desktop mounts consist of a fixed superstructure comprising a rear wall and side walls rising from the desktop, as well as horizontal partitions and top plates and serve mainly to support files, forms and writing utensils but are often unsuitable as supports for office appliances. Resides, such fixed superstructures do not permit an adjustment of the supporting surfaces which are available and do not permit an adjustment of the positions of the appliances which are supported thereon. For this reason the known desktop mounts cannot support the various trams of equipment in positions in which they can conveniently be taken or operated by hand and will also restrict the free surface area which is available on the working surface of the desktop.
Other means have been proposed for supporting specific individual appliances and may comprise pivoted holders, such as pivoted arms for supporting telephone sets. But such supporting means are not designed to support heavy appliances or a plurality of appliances and sufficient space for providing a large number of such individual supports for respective appliances is not available on the desktop.